The Spartans of the West 25 



"Both men and women make it a rule to go down to the river 

 and wash every morning and evening." ("Journal," Vol. i., 



P- 325-) 



"These people, like their neighbors, have the custom of wash- 

 ing, morning and evening." ("Journal," Vol. i., p. 348.) 



Catlin, after eight years in their lodges (1832-40) says that 

 notwithstanding many exceptions, among the wild Indians the 

 "strictest regard to decency and cleanliness and elegance of 

 dress is observed, and there are few people, perhaps, who take 

 more pains to keep their persons neat and cleanly, than they 

 do." (Vol. I., p. 96.) 



"In their bathing and ablutions at all seasons of the year, as a 

 part of their religious observances — having separate places for 

 men and women to perform these immersions — they resemble 

 again [the Jews]." (Vol. II., p. 233.) 



J. W. Schultz, who spent his life among the Blackfeet, 

 comments on their wonderful hardiness. During the 

 intensest zero weather, he, himself, wore twice as much 

 clothing as they did, and yet was suffering severely, while 

 "They never froze, nor even shivered from the cold. They 

 attributed their indifference to exposure, to the beneficial 

 effect of their daily baths, which were always taken, even if 

 a hole had to be cut in the ice for the purpose. And they 

 forced their children to accompany them, little fellows from 

 three years of age up, dragging the unwilling ones from ther 

 beds, and carrying them under their arms to the icy plunge." 

 ("My Life as an Indian," pub. 1907; p. 63.) 



This same experienced observer says: 



"I have seen hundreds of white homes — there are numbers 

 of them in any city — so exceedingly dirty, their inmates so 

 slovenly, that one turns from them in absolute disgust, but I 

 have seen nothing like that among the Blackfeet. " (P. 413.) 



Friendly enthusiasts like Catlin may sometimes get only 

 part of the facts, but the trained observers of the SmitV 



